A woman who had a hair transplant to cover her “big forehead” has revealed the results 10 months on – and urged others to ditch shame over the procedure.
Sonja van der Berg, 33, paid €3000 (£2,641) for the procedure after years of worry about what she described as her “big forehead and high hairline”.
After a consultation with a doctor, she underwent a six-hour cosmetic procedure under local anaesthetic.
Donor hairs were taken from the back of her head, and inserted one by one into the top of her forehead.
Sonja said the experience was so straightforward, she fell asleep.
And she said it was such as positive step for her, she has now set up a business accompanying others to Istanbul, Turkey - known as the transplant centre of the world - for similar treatment.
Sonja, a management assistant, from Rotterdam, the Netherlands, had her transplant in her home city in May last year and created her new business in January.
She said: “I had always wanted to get a hair transplant done because my high hairline always bothered me.
“Subconsciously, when I was starting high school at 14 or 15 I was always just very aware of of my big forehead and high hairline.
“I wasn’t so insecure that I couldn’t go out but it had always been very much on my mind, I was always making sure that enough hair was, hiding it.
“Whenever there was wind outside I was always making sure that my hairs were good in place so that it didn’t expose my insecurity.
“Last year, I started to Google ways to make the forehead smaller but I knew a forehead reduction operation would be too drastic for me.
“When I found out about hair transplants, I was very surprised that they were also possible for women, not only for women suffering from hair loss, but also to minimise the size of foreheads.
“I started to contact some clinics and from that point on it went really fast. So it was like an amazing, amazing chance for me.
“I was so excited when I found out it was possible to do something about it.”
Sonja had to attend a consultation to determine whether she would qualify for the surgery, which examined whether she had enough donor hair at the back of her head.
She added: “You’re completely numb. I honestly was so relaxed I fell asleep several times during the process. So it’s not that bad at all.”
For the first three days Sonja had some swelling, which she said was “inconvenient” and covered with a headscarf.
But by day five she had returned to work and felt “back to normal”.
When she looked in the mirror as she recovered she said she “loved” the results.
She said: “It’s really crazy. It’s so subtle most people don’t even notice it. But it made a huge impact on my self confidence which crazy.
“Before I always had this feeling of being naked somehow, on my face, and now it feels how it’s supposed to be. I love the results already.
“I can wear my hair in different styles that I want to know that I wasn’t able or that I didn’t feel comfortable with before.”
Following the transplant Sonja said she had to brush the new hair vigorously - in order to stimulate the blood flow to remove the hair grafts.
She said: “You need to massage them very heavily actually by brushing.
“A lot of people are scared and say be careful, but you need to really trigger them.”
Sonja decided to share her hair journey because she wanted to “break the taboo” of having a transplant as a woman.
She said: “I’ve always been an open person so I thought it would be fun to to to document the process from beginning to end.
“I got so many messages from women saying that they also have the same insecurity and that they’re very shy and feel ashamed of their hairlines and foreheads.
“Why should you feel ashamed about it? So I thought if I put this out there I can help a lot of people.
“By embracing these insecurities you can do something about them which is better in the end for everyone.
“The more the more women can show this the better.
“We all know that for men it’s very common but also for women there’s nothing to be ashamed about.
“By sharing information about this, women who have the same insecurity will finally be able to do something about it if they want. It’s their choice in the end of course.”
She now helps other women through the procedure - sharing advice and post-transplant care as well as accompanying them to clinics in Istanbul.
And she has already taken two women to Istanbul and advised another 15 women with further trips planned later this year.
She added: “We spend the weekend there, they have the hair transplant done, we talk about it.
“I can give them advice, what to expect ,what to do, give them tips, and then we fly back.
“I would also say it’s important not to be too serious about it to break the taboo and just have fun with it.
“It’s OK to show yourself in a more fragile less ‘Insta-perfect’ way.
“It’s truly important to put out that we’re not perfect. And you shouldn’t want to be perfect, but this could help you to feel beautiful.”
